Information displaying method, mobile phone, and storage device

ABSTRACT

An information displaying method, a mobile phone, and a storage device are provided. The information displaying method comprises the following steps. Whether a communication process is started is determined. If the communication process is started, then telephone number information is received. Event information is obtained according to the telephone number information. The event information is displayed.

This application claims the benefit of a provisional application Ser.No. 61/299,347, filed Jan. 29, 2010, and Taiwan application Serial No.100101018, filed Jan. 11, 2011, the subject matter of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

This disclosure relates in general to an information displaying method,a mobile phone, and a storage device, and more particularly to aninformation displaying method for a communication process, a mobilephone, and a storage device.

2. Description of the Related Art

In the open and modern society, the modern human beings have the busylife and the frequent social activities, and the phone book of eachperson stores contact information of several tens or even severalhundreds of friends and families.

Because the friends are getting more and more, the people usually cannotremember the detail events of these friends. Therefore, during thetelephone conversation process, the other side often feels unfamiliarwith the one side and the relationship therebetween cannot be furtherpromoted.

Even if some more careful persons deliberately remember the detail eventof the friends, they tend to forget these details when answering ormaking a call.

The mobile phone is an important tool for communications between themodern human beings. In addition to the audio or voice transfer, it isan important direction of research to provide a more human-orientedfunction for the user to promote the relationships between the user andhis/her friends.

SUMMARY

This disclosure is directed to an information displaying method, amobile phone and a storage device for promoting the relationship betweenthe user and the friend according to the human-oriented reminderfunction of the event information.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, an informationdisplaying method is provided. The method comprises the following steps.Whether a communication process is started is determined. A telephonenumber information is received if the communication process is started.An event information is obtained according to the telephone numberinformation. The event information is displayed.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a storage deviceis provided. An electronic device loads the storage device to execute aninformation displaying method, which comprises the following steps.Whether a communication process is started is determined. A telephonenumber information is received if the communication process is started.An event information is obtained according to the telephone numberinformation. The event information is displayed.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a mobile phonecomprising a communication unit, a storage unit, a processing unit, anda display unit is provided. The storage unit stores a plurality of setsof telephone number information and at least one event information. Theprocessing unit determines whether the communication unit starts acommunication process. If the communication unit starts thecommunication process, the processing unit receives one of the sets ofthe telephone number information, and obtains the corresponding eventinformation from the storage unit according to the telephone numberinformation. The display unit displays the event information.

The above and other aspects of the disclosure will become betterunderstood with regard to the following detailed description of thenon-limiting embodiment(s). The following description is made withreference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a mobile phone according to a firstembodiment of this disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an information displaying methodaccording to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an information displaying methodaccording to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an information displaying methodaccording to a third embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a mobile phone 100 according to afirst embodiment of this disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, the mobilephone 100 comprises a communication unit 110, a storage unit 120, aprocessing unit 130, and a display unit 160. The communication unit 110,such as a combination of an antenna and a radio frequency chip, receivesor transmits radio information. The storage unit 120 stores variouskinds of information, and may be a single element or two or more thantwo separate elements. For example, the storage unit 120 is a device,such as a memory, a hard drive or a memory card, capable of storingvarious sets of information, and may also be a remotely connectedstorage element or device. The processing unit 130, such as amicro-processing chip, a firmware circuit or a recording medium storingseveral sets of program codes, performs various determined procedures orcomputation procedures. The processing unit 130 further receives variouskinds of information. In this embodiment, the processing unit 130receives information from the storage unit 120, and comprises atransmission line, a connection port or a card reader, for example. Thedisplay unit 160, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, anorganic light emitting diode (OLED) panel, a touch screen or E-paper,displays various kinds of information. In one embodiment, the mobilephone 100 may also comprise a timer unit 150 and an audio broadcastingunit 170. The timer unit 150, such as a timer chip, detects a currenttime. The audio broadcasting unit 170, such as a loudspeaker, broadcastsvarious information with an audio.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an information displaying methodaccording to the first embodiment. In order to describe the operationsof various elements and the information displaying method of thisembodiment clearly, a flow chart will be described in the following.However, those skilled in the art may easily understand that thedisplaying method of this embodiment is neither restricted to theapplication of the mobile phone 100 of FIG. 1 nor restricted to theorder of the steps in the flow chart.

First, in step S111, the processing unit 130 determines whether thecommunication unit 110 starts a communication process, such as a processof receiving an incoming call information S1 or a process of dialing anoutgoing call information S2. If the communication unit 110 has receivedthe incoming call information S1, step S113 is entered. If thecommunication unit 110 has dialed the outgoing call information S2, stepS123 is entered. If the communication unit 110 does not receive theincoming call information S1 and does not dial the outgoing callinformation S2, the process returns to the step S111.

In the step S113, the processing unit 130 receives a telephone numberinformation NO from the incoming call information S1.

Next, in step S114, the processing unit 130 obtains a correspondingevent information EV from the storage unit 120 according to thetelephone number information NO. The event information EV comprises, forexample, an event occurrence time, an event associated information, oran event associated content. The event information EV comprises, forexample but without limitation to, a last short message, a last e-mail,a last incoming call, a last missed call, a latest event of a personalwebpage, or a latest event of a social network service. The socialnetwork service is, for example, Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, or the like.

Then, in step S117, the display unit 160 concurrently displays theassociated information of the event information EV and the incoming callinformation S1. The associated information of the incoming callinformation S1 comprises, for example, a phone number of a caller, acorresponding name of the caller, or an image of the caller.

On the other hand, the steps S123, S124, and S127 are similar to thesteps S113, S114, and S117. In the step S123, the processing unit 130receives the telephone number information NO from the outgoing callinformation S2. In the step S127, the display unit 160 concurrentlydisplays the event information EV and the outgoing call information S2.

It is to be noted that the information displaying method may beindependently applied to the process of receiving the incoming callinformation S1 or dialing the outgoing call information S2.

The information displaying method may also be executed through acomputer program, which may be loaded from a storage device.

Furthermore, in another embodiment, the steps S117 and S127 may beperformed when the communication process is proceeding.

Second Embodiment

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an information displaying methodaccording to a second embodiment. The difference between the informationdisplaying methods of the second and first embodiments resides in thatthe information displaying method of the second embodiment furthercomprises steps S215, S216, S218, S219, S225, S226, S228, and S229,wherein the other steps are the same as those of the first embodimentand will not be repeatedly described.

After the step S114, the processing unit 130 has obtained thecorresponding event information EV.

Then, in the step S215, the timer unit 150 detects a current time CT.

Next, in the step S216, the processing unit 130 determines whether thecurrent time CT falls within a predetermined time interval before theevent occurrence time. The predetermined time interval may be, forexample, three days, one week, or one month, and may be selected or setby the user. If the current time CT falls within the predetermined timeinterval, the step S117 is entered. If the current time CT does not fallwithin the predetermined time interval, the step S219 is entered. Forexample, when the event information EV is the birthday information, theassociated information only needs to be displayed to inform the userwhen the birthday of the caller or answerer is almost approaching.

Similarly, the processing unit 130 may also determine whether thecurrent time CT falls within a predetermined time interval after theevent occurrence time, depending on the product requirement. Forexample, when the event information EV is the latest event of the socialnetwork service of the caller or the answerer, the associatedinformation only needs to be displayed to inform the user within apredetermined period of time after the event occurs without continuouslyinforming the user after a long period of time.

Then, in the step S117, the display unit 160 concurrently displays theassociated information of the event information EV and the incoming callinformation S1. The associated information of the incoming callinformation S1 comprises, for example, the phone number of the caller,the corresponding name of the caller, or the corresponding image of thecaller.

In the step S219, the display unit 160 displays the incoming callinformation S1. In the step S219, the display unit 160 may furtherdisplay the associated information of the incoming call information S1,which comprises, for example, the phone number of the caller, thecorresponding name of the caller, or the corresponding image of thecaller.

In one embodiment, the audio broadcasting unit 170 may play the eventinformation EV with the audio in the step S218.

In another embodiment, the steps S225, S226, S228, and S229 are similarto the steps S215, S216, S218, and S219. In the step S129, the displayunit 160 displays the associated information of the outgoing callinformation S2, which comprises, for example, the dial number, thecorresponding name of the answerer, or the corresponding image of theanswerer. It is to be noted that the information displaying method maybe independently applied to the process of receiving the incoming callinformation S1 or dialing the outgoing call information S2.

In addition, in one embodiment, the steps S117 and S218 may be performedconcurrently, and the steps S127 and S228 may also be performedconcurrently according to the product requirement.

Third Embodiment

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an information displaying methodaccording to a third embodiment. The mobile phone 100, the informationdisplaying method and the storage device of this embodiment aredifferent from those of the second embodiment in that the informationdisplaying method of this embodiment has the newly added steps S312 andS322, and the steps S219 and S229 are cancelled. The other commonfeatures will be omitted.

First, in the step S111, the processing unit 130 determines whether thecommunication unit 110 starts the communication process, which is, forexample, the processing of receiving the incoming call information S1,or whether the communication unit 110 has dialed the outgoing callinformation S2. If the communication unit 110 has received the incomingcall information S1, then the step S312 is entered. If the communicationunit 110 has dialed the outgoing call information S2, then the step S322is entered. If the communication unit 110 has not received the incomingcall information S1 and has not dialed the outgoing call information S2,then the process goes back to the step S111.

In the step S312, the display unit 160 displays the incoming callinformation S1.

Then, after the steps S113, S114, and S215, the step S216 is entered.

In the step S216, the processing unit 130 determines whether the currenttime CT falls within the predetermined time interval before the eventoccurrence time. If the current time CT falls within the predeterminedtime interval, then the step S117 is entered. If the current time CTdoes not fall within the predetermined time interval, then the processends.

Similarly, on the other hand, the display unit 160 displays the outgoingcall information S2 in the step 322. Also, in the step S226, if thecurrent time CT does not fall within the predetermined time interval,this process may also end.

According to the above-mentioned processes, this embodiment firstlydisplays the incoming call information S1 or the outgoing callinformation S2, and then performs the steps S113, S114, S215, S216,S117, S218 or the steps S123, S124, S225, S226, S127, S228. The eventinformation EV is displayed or the event information EV is broadcastedif necessary. Consequently, it is possible to prevent the processingtime of the steps S113, S114, S215, S216, S117, S218 or the steps S123,S124, S225, S226, S127, S228 from affecting the fluency of dialing oranswering the phone call.

Furthermore, in one embodiment, the steps S117 and S127 may be performedwhen the communication process is proceeding.

In addition, the steps S215, S216, S218 may be omitted in oneembodiment, and the step S117 is directly performed after the step S114.The steps S225, S226, S228 may be omitted, and the step S127 is directlyperformed after the step S124.

Through the above-mentioned elements and steps, when the user isanswering or making a call, the user can immediately know whether theother side has some events, such as the birthday reminder, the reminderof the date with the other side, the recent event or thoughts of theother side, or the contact time, manner, content or the like between theother side and the user. The user can immediately bless the other side,or discuss the date event or the recent condition of the other side onthe phone, to shorten the distance between each other.

While the disclosure has been described by way of example and in termsof the exemplary embodiment(s), it is to be understood that thedisclosure is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended tocover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, andthe scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded thebroadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications andsimilar arrangements and procedures.

1. An information displaying method, comprising the steps of:determining whether a communication process is started; receiving atelephone number information if the communication process is started;obtaining an event information according to the telephone numberinformation; and displaying the event information.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the communication process comprisesreceiving an incoming call information, and the information displayingmethod further comprises the step of: displaying the incoming callinformation; wherein the step of displaying the incoming callinformation is performed before the step of displaying the eventinformation; or the step of displaying the incoming call information andthe step of displaying the event information are performed concurrently.3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the communication processcomprises dialing an outgoing call information, and the informationdisplaying method further comprises the step of: displaying the outgoingcall information; wherein the step of displaying the outgoing callinformation is performed before the step of displaying the eventinformation; or the step of displaying the outgoing call information andthe step of displaying the event information are performed concurrently.4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of displaying theevent information is performed during the communication process.
 5. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein the event information comprises anevent occurrence time and an event content, and the informationdisplaying method further comprises the steps of: detecting a currenttime; and determining whether the current time falls within apredetermined time interval before the event occurrence time; wherein ifthe current time falls within the predetermined time interval, the stepof displaying the event information is performed.
 6. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising the step of: broadcasting theevent information with an audio.
 7. The method according to claim 6,wherein the step of displaying the event information and the step ofbroadcasting the event information with the audio are performedconcurrently.
 8. A storage device, wherein an electronic device loadsthe storage device to execute an information displaying method,comprising the steps of: determining whether a communication process isstarted; receiving a telephone number information if the communicationprocess is started; obtaining an event information according to thetelephone number information; and displaying the event information.
 9. Amobile phone, comprising: a communication unit; a storage unit forstoring a plurality of sets of telephone number information and at leastone event information; a processing unit for determining whether thecommunication unit starts a communication process, wherein if thecommunication unit starts the communication process, the processing unitreceives the telephone number information, and obtains the correspondingevent information from the storage unit according to the telephonenumber information; and a display unit for displaying the eventinformation.
 10. The mobile phone according to claim 9, wherein thecommunication process comprises receiving an incoming call information,the display unit further displays the incoming call information, thedisplay unit firstly displays the incoming call information and thendisplays the event information; or the display unit concurrentlydisplays the incoming call information and the event information. 11.The mobile phone according to claim 9, wherein the communication processcomprises receiving an outgoing call information, the display unitfurther displays the outgoing call information, wherein the display unitfirstly displays the outgoing call information and then displays theevent information; or the display unit concurrently displays theoutgoing call information and the event information.
 12. The mobilephone according to claim 9, wherein the display unit displays the eventinformation when the communication process is proceeding.
 13. The mobilephone according to claim 9, wherein the event information comprises anevent occurrence time and an event content, and the mobile phone furthercomprises: a timer unit for detecting a current time; wherein theprocessing unit further determines whether the current time falls withina predetermined time interval before the event occurrence time, and thedisplay unit displays the event information if the current time fallswithin the predetermined time interval.
 14. The mobile phone accordingto claim 9, further comprises: an audio broadcasting unit forbroadcasting the event information with an audio.
 15. The mobile phoneaccording to claim 14, wherein the display unit and the audiobroadcasting unit concurrently display the event information andbroadcast the event information with the audio.
 16. The mobile phoneaccording to claim 9, wherein the event information comprises a birthdayinformation, a date information, a last short message, a last e-mail, alast incoming call, a last missed call, a latest event of a personalwebpage or a latest event of a social network service.